Many currently used products consist of one or more emulsions. Specifically, there is a large array of cosmetic emulsions utilized for application of skin health benefits to the skin, hair, and body of a user. Additionally, many other emulsions are used to provide benefits to inanimate objects such as, for example, cleaning countertops, glass, and the like. Generally, emulsions consist of a dispersed phase and a continuous phase and are generally formed with the addition of a surfactant or a combination of surfactants with varying hydrophilic/lipophilic balances (HLB). Although emulsions are useful, current mixing procedures have multiple problems, which can waste time, energy, and money for manufacturers of these emulsions.
Specifically, emulsions are currently prepared in a batch-type process, either by a cold mix or a hot mix procedure. The cold mix procedure generally consists of multiple ingredients or phases being added into a kettle in a sequential order with agitation being applied via a blade, baffles, or a vortex. The hot mix procedure is conducted similarly to the cold mix procedure with the exception that the ingredients or phases are generally heated above room temperature, for example to temperatures of from about 40 to about 100° C., prior to mixing, and are then cooled back to room temperature after the ingredients and phases have been mixed. In both procedures, the various phases are added manually by one of a number of methods including dumping, pouring, and/or sifting.
These conventional methods of mixing phases into emulsions have several problems. For example, as noted above, all phases are manually added in a sequential order. Prior to adding the phases, the ingredients for each phase need to be weighed, which can create human error. Specifically, as the ingredients need to be weighed one at a time, misweighing can occur with the additive amounts. Furthermore, by manually adding the ingredients, there is a risk of spilling or of incomplete transfers of the ingredients from one container to the next.
One other major issue with conventional methods of mixing phases to prepare emulsions is that batching processes (e.g., cold and hot mix procedures described above) require heating times, mixing times, and additive times that are entirely manual and left up to the individual compounders to follow the instructions. These practices can lead to inconsistencies from batch-to-batch and from compounder to compounder. Furthermore, these procedures required several hours to complete, which can get extremely expensive.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a mixing system that provides ultrasonic energy to enhance the mixing of two or more phases into emulsions. Furthermore, it would be advantageous if the system could be configured to enhance the cavitation mechanism of the ultrasonics, thereby increasing the probability that the phases will be effectively mixed to form the emulsions. There is also a need in the art for a system that forms stable emulsions that include salts, but require little to no surfactant. Further, there is a need in the art for a system capable of forming stable emulsions with low ratios of the amount of surfactant component to the amount of oil components.